Meaning, you have to use a computer with internet connection to be able to get an appointment and have a valid email address for you to receive the form you filled-out online. Print the form and keep it in a safe place. Don’t forget to mark you calendar so that you won’t forget your schedule. Once it arrives, be at the DFA 30 minutes earlier before your schedule or else you’ll not be entertained and lose the chance of applying for a passport.

When we were about to cross the street in going to DFA ASEANA, we noticed some men calling the attention of those people going to DFA. Here is what we heard: “Kung may appointment, dun sa DFA. Kapag walang appointment, dun sa 2nd floor.” as we saw him pointing at the building behind Mcdonalds. Well, it is so disappointing that many people fall for this kind of gimmick or modus-operandi.

Those men were from Yah Suy and not even connected to DFA. But they are not fixers. According to Mamang Pulis (whom we have spoken), they used to take them in the precinct but due to lack of evidences and appropriate case to file, they were freed with the help of their lawyer. Since there were people who take Yah Suy’s bait despite the fact that going to DFA is by appointment only and free of charge, the policemen cannot do anything to stop them. However, they are starting to take legal actions about Yah Suy’s tenancy at the building since Yah Suy is just sharing its tenancy to the spa right next to it.

How do they victimize people?

1. As you get-off the bus or jeepney in front of the gasoline station, they will approach you and ask if you have an appointment.

2. If you have no appointment, they will encourage you to go to their office, located at the 2nd floor.

3. You’ll be given a form to be filled-out and will be asked to PAY P200. The staff of Yah Suy will be the one to fill-out the information online — not you! The printed DFA application form with appointment schedule (for next month) will be given to you.

BEWARE of telling other people your personal information like your birth date, parents’ complete name etc… for they might use it for other purposes. Haven’t you heard of identity theft?

REMINDERS:

1. You can go to the DFA if:

you have an appointment that day and have the printed application form;

you have the urgency to travel abroad and have the necessary documents as proofs — no appointment needed;

you are a government employee, unmarried child of a government employee, parent of a government employee, spouse of a government employee, incumbent elected officials, barangay officials (Brgy. Chairman, Brgy. Kagawad and SK chairman) & retired employee;

2. Chaperones are not allowed inside the DFA building that’s why it’s better to go there with yourself.

3. Walk-ins are not allowed. Make sure you have an appointment. Schedules available are usually a month after your application.

4. If you are not a techie savvy, ask the help of your family or friends in getting application schedule at the DFA through online.

5. Computer rental for an hour is only P20. A lot cheaper than paying P200 for Yah Suy’s services.

Please be more vigilant of people taking advantage of one’s ignorance.

DFA has been relocated early last year to its new home. It is located at the corner of Macapagal Avenue and Bradco Street, Aseana Business Park. Since the consular offices has moved to its new location, passport applications are now being processed here. People with appointments can avail of the passport processing, however, for special cases, some people can process their passports with no appointment at all. Read here.

Here is the step by step procedure in applying for e-passport:

AT HOME:

1. Set an appointment by going online: (www.passport.com.ph) or by calling (02) 731-1000. It’s FREE of any charges!

For those who do not have PC at home, go to computer rentals for P20/hour. You’ll be done in less than 15 minutes. Keep in mind that you need to have a valid email address where DFA will send your application form in pdf format.

2. Log-in to your email account, check the email from DFA and print the form. Keep the printed form to be used as your gate pass in going to DFA. No appointment form, no entry!

AT THE DFA ASEANA:

1. Go to Gate 2, present to the guard the printed application form received through email.

2. Confirm your scheduled appointment at the verification counter before heading to the Processing Area in the Ground Floor.

Passport application is now being done online for you to get an appointment. No appointment, no entry! But through experience, I learned that there are certain people who can apply for new, renewal or lost passport with no appointment and can be done in less than an hour. Where? At the Courtesy Lane.

NOTE:Please read this post carefully before posting your questions or anything. I have not experienced applying at the Courtesy Lane personally. Everything that I posted here were just based on what I have seen and learned when we had our passport validity extension at the DFA ASEANA. Just wanna share this to every single Juan who is not aware that the Courtesy Lane exists.

Courtesy Lane at DFA ASEANA can be found at the second floor,

Passport Processing Area 2.

RUSH PROCESSING ONLY

Bring your GSIS ID or any VALID ID

List of Valid Govenrment IDs:

– Driver’s license

– PRC license

– SSS Digitized ID

In case you don’t have any of the aformentioned IDs, try to bring any of the following:

– Voter’s ID

– Postal ID

– NBI Clearance

Note:In case you don’t any of the above mentioned IDs, try to call DFA hotline and ask about it.

4. Original Birth Certificate from NSO in Security Paper (SECPA) if city/municipality & province on birth place is not specific (Example: NCR instead of San Juan, Metro Manila)

5. For illegitimate minor, personal appearance of mother is required.

REPLACEMENT OF LOST PASSPORT

***Have all your original documents and valid ID photocopied before going to DFA on your appointment date.

1. Personal appearance is required

2. Original or Certified True Copy of Birth Certificate from NSO

3. Notarized Affidavit of Explanation

4. Police Report if passport is still valid

5. Replacement fee of Php 200 if passport is still valid.

AMENDMENT OF PASSPORT

***For female applicants wishing to change her maiden name to her married name and married in the Philippines

1. Marriage Certificate from NSO (original & photoc0py)

***For female applicants wishing to change her maiden name to her married name and married outside the Philippines

1. Marriage Certificate (original & photoc0py)

2. Duly accomplished Consulate Report of Marriage Contracted Abroad form ((Note: Registration of Marriage requires the following: original copy of the marriage contract/certificate/license, passport photos of both parties, proof of citizenship of both parties, i.e. passports or birth certificates).

***For female applicants wishing to revert to the use of their maiden names

1. For widowed applicants: certified true copy and photocopy of death certificate of husband, or a court order of presumptive death.

3. For divorced applicants (Allowed only in cases where the non-Filipino spouse acted as the plaintiff; and not allowed when both parties are Filipino citizens at the time of the divorce): original copy of Divorce Decree. In all the foregoing cases, the female applicant must accomplish a Sworn Declaration to Revert to Maiden Surname. A sample form of this Affidavit can be downloaded in the Consular Services category.

EXTENSION OF VALIDITY OF PASSPORT

***The passport to be amended has a validity of less than 6 months; no need for appointment.

1. Original Passport

2. Photocopy of the first and last page of passport

3. Passport Application form

4. An affidavit stating the urgency of having the validity of passport extended OR

5. Airline tickets, Job Order, Working Visa, Medical Form

Read the step by step procedure in applying for extension of validity of passport here.

Hubby and I will fly to Singapore next month but our Philippine passports are due for renewal on May. We have no idea that we cannot travel outside the country if our passports’ validity was less than 6 months. I just learned it from the pexers of Pinoy Exchange and it was confirmed by the staff of Air Philippines Express. OMG! @_@

Application for Renewal of Passports at DFA is now being done online. When I tried to schedule my hubby for an appointment, there were no more slots available for the month of January!😦 There were available slots for February but still, we cannot! Why? The dates available were after our 5 day trip to Singapore! But I was still lucky enough to get some information at Trusty Travel & Tours. I was advised by one of the staff, whom I considered as an “angel”, to go directly to the DFA and make a request for extension of validity of passport. And that’s we did!🙂

Without the help of that travel agency, I wouldn’t know that there is such application like that. For the benefit of many Filipinos out there, I made a research and found out that there are many types of passport application together with the necessary requirements to submit. You can find it here. B-)

Step by Step Procedure of What We Did For Application of Passport Validity Extension

STEP ONE: Prepared all the necessary documents: marriage certificate, passports & airline e-tickets. In case you have other reasons for extension, you can prepare a letter of request. For OFWs: passport, working visa & job order.

STEP TWO:Went to DFA ASEANA Office at around 7 o’clock in the morning to avoid long queue. From MRT Taft Station, we took a bus with “DFA Baclaran” signage. Buses going to Baclaran with DFA signage take the Macapagal Boulevard.

STEP THREE: Entered Gate 1 (Gate 2 is for people with scheduled appointments and Gate 3 is for DFA’s personnel), showed the guard our passports with the travel tickets, informed him of our purpose: EXTENSION; and asked the directions to the Director’s Office.

STEP FOUR: Went to the Director’s Office, fronting Gate 3. Entered the enclosed glass area with “Passport Division” written on it.

STEP FIVE: Filled-out the small form given by the guard and gave it to the other guard inside the office. Took the passport application form to be filled-out again and waited to be called for an interview. It took us 2 hours of waiting. And there were 30 persons waiting on their seats when we arrived.

STEP SIX:Our names were finally called at exactly ten o’clock. Interviewed by the personnel on desk 17 and stated our reasons. Submitted our tickets, passports and application forms for approval. I also took the opportunity to apply for amendment so that I’ll be able to use my married name instead of my maiden name. We were told to go back to our seats and waited to be called again. Make sure to have the first & last page of your passport photocopied and submit it together with the other documents. You can have your documents photocopied in a booth at Gate 1.

STEP SEVEN: After almost 30 minutes of waiting, we went to the second floor at the Passport Enrollment Center to pay the fees. P200 for extension and P100 for amendment (to use my married name). We paid a total of P500.

STEP EIGHT: Returned to the Director’s Office and submitted the receipts. We were given a copy of the receipt with the date of release. Our passports with approved validity extension will be available for pick-up after three working days! Yey!😉 We’re finally done at eleven in the morning!

Passport stamped with 2 year EXTENSION

How to get there: Take a bus with “Baclaran” signage. Inform the “konduktor’ to drop you at DFA ASEANA. It’s right across Mcdonalds, which is on your right side. As you get off the bus, cross the street and IGNORE those people who would call your attentions by asking asking if you’re applying for a passport. They are not related to DFA, that’s why don’t try to transact business with them.

TIP: In front of Mcdonalds, you can take buses going to Cubao or Fairview to reach Baclaran or MRT & LRT stations in going back home.

REMINDERS:

1. Only those Filipinos holding a passport with less than 6 months validity can apply for the EXTENSION.

2. All Filipino citizens applying for passports will NO longer need to submit photographs, as their pictures, their fingerprints, and their signatures, will be taken on-site. This also means that all passport applicants, regardless of age, are henceforth required to appear personally.

NOTE: If you have other questions regarding passport application which are not discussed in this post, kindly call the DFA Hotline or the Philippine Embassy of the country you are currently in. I cannot answer questions of OFWs wishing to renew their passports or extending their passports validity. What I only shared in this post were the things that my hubby and I experienced in getting an extension prior to our 5 day vacation in Singapore and Malaysia.